The Final Word
The book of Galatians is a powerful treatise on the sufficiency of God’s grace to save us apart from the externals of law-keeping. Attempting to keep the law as the way to salvation or even as the means for growing in Christ ends in failure and bondage. Freedom is found in Jesus! Discovering the grace found in Jesus leads to boasting—boasting in the enormity of what Christ accomplished on the cross. Through Jesus we can experience a new creation.
Discussion Questions
People often try to make salvation harder to get than it really is. Why? In what ways do people complicate God’s arrangement of the “grace through faith” reception of God’s free gift?
Read Galatians 6:12-13. Describe the attitudes of these Judaizers who were adding law-keeping to the salvation experience. How were they self-promoters? We live in a self-saturated culture. In what ways can self-promotion prove deadly to spiritual growth?
Paul was boastful. What was the content of his boasting (Gal. 6:14)? How would you describe your affection for Christ and his work on your behalf?
Read Galatians 6:15-16. Paul is suggesting that circumcision counts for nothing (compare Galatians 5:6). Instead it’s the new creation that matters (compare 2 Cor. 5:17). What is a new creation and why is it so important?
Explain the following statement: Legalism is about “have-to,” grace is about “want-to.”
What “trouble” is Paul referring to in Galatians 6:17? How had Paul suffered for Jesus? What does suffering for Jesus look like in your life?
Paul’s final words of this letter are a fitting conclusion to our series. Read Galatians 6:18. Why is grace indispensable to the Gospel message?
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